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"The more we push past fear, the more rich and fascinating the world becomes" is such a great line that can apply to more than just Spiders and the natural world. Great quote, definitely going to remember that from now on. ❤
@@digitaldazzle5836Are you being sarcastic? There is no need to be homophobic or transphobic. Fearing people based off of your own assumptions without even bothering to fact check yourself is wrong. The same goes for insects. Of course, some people are still going to be scared and that’s fine.
I moved into a new house back in 1986 and I couldn't find any of the yellow garden spiders for several months. My mosquito problem was TERRIBLE. The orb weavers spiders will remove their webs every day and build a fresh one. During the spring, I saw a few yellow garden spiders where I worked, so I made plans to capture some and transport them to my house. Five years later and I still had a huge population of them around the house. Every day, the webs would be FURRY with dead mosquitos! My mosquito problem also was reduced to about nothing over a couple of years, so the spiders really did their job!
@@baffledsquirrel2122 All spiders are venomous except Uloboridae. Most species have venom too weak to affect humans. On top of that, they are very docile. Even the highly venomous ones like widows and recluses are gentle who never bite unless pressed against skin.
Wow! It didn't occur to me that golden garden spiders are actually great at curing arachnophobia! It's so cool that you had this help cure your arachnophobia, a great first spider :)
The other day at work there was a wolf spider than decided to run straight across the floor in front of two of my department managers, who are both arachnophobes. They both freaked out and started silent screaming while backing into the corner of the desk. My coworker was about to stomp on it but I put my hand down in front of the spider, stole it up onto my wrist, and walked out the side door to let it crawl onto a outside railing. The looks I got when I came back in and the "You're f**ing crazy" I got from my department manager is something I won't be forgetting for a while. Thanks Spencer for these videos! Keep up the good work :)
As kids I used to see these spiders everywhere but now as an adult I rarely see them anymore. We'd catch em and feed them. When they bounce their webs they can be intimidating but I found they're pretty friendly overall for their size.
When I was a young boy, I used to handle Lactrodectus brown widow spider when I was a kid. I used to handle them without fear. I tried to handle a certain spider. I think it was a sac spider. That spider then bit my finger, and I felt a mild venom getting into me. I immediately dropped it on the ground. From that moment, I began to be afraid of spiders and made sure that I didn't handle spiders even today. I fear spiders even today. I hate the thought that they could bite me.
As a kid, I always thought that these garden spiders were very cool. My dad said that they were good for the garden, & to leave them alone, like you explained. Thanks for the memories.
I haven't handled any spider other than jumping spiders, the garden spider & the golden orb Weaver are the spiders that broke my arachnophobia. Such amazing creatures with personalities all their own Blessings fam 🫀
It’s funny to hear that a spider that was pretty instrumental in myself fearing them, had the opposite effect on someone. Your jumping spider videos helped me overcome that and now I’m more open to handling them if not still a little squeamish, but to hear the way you talk about taking the time to understand them and how they operate to further your passion for exploring things like nature, animals and insects alike, it’s incredibly inspiring and I’m always appreciative to see the new creature you want to show off. Much love to you and your future adventures❤️
Jumping spiders in no way kreep me out but almost every other spider does. I have sat with a jumping spider on my arm several times and had full on conversations, and they sat their intently maintained eye contact and listend the whole while. You can tell by that look in their eyes they are pretty damn smart. They have done tests on them and found out they are able to use forewars thinking and are great problem solvers.
Yup! I’m an arachnophobia. I wrote about it when you were hunting that purple tarantula. I’ve been watching videos like this for years in an attempt to relieve my fear. I’ve gone from fainting at the sight of an arachnid (even at a picture), to being able to admire them at a safe distance. Thank you and all of the other creators who do a wonderful job of showcasing the beauty of these creatures. Y’all have a blessed day!
I also had arachnophobia, until I joined a spider group on FB. I finally started educating myself and realized how cool and misunderstood they are! I always have my spider catching cup handy instead of a flyswatter for when they wander in the house. I've only held a few tiny ones though 😅
Wait until you get a giant huntsman in your house 😂. Kidding, glad you're over it. I've had a tarantula for 17 years. She's actually about 26 years old.
@@jessd423 The females live a lot longer than the males. Mexican firelegs are known to live over 50 years. I'm in Texas the huntsmen here are small but the wolf spiders are huge. I had a brown recluse in my place recently and decided to dispatch it unfortunately. I work in tight spaces filled with spiders and brown recluses still make me nervous.
@@wayofthekodiak3118oh wow I didn't realize that about tarantulas! That's amazing. Yikes. Yeah I don't know how I would feel if I were near a brown recluse. We definitely have them here in Montana but I've never seen one fortunately. No huntsmen here either. Just bears 😂
We had one of these in our school garden for weeks, and the kids got used to seeing it every day. It was a great way to talk about how cool it looked and how important it was for our garden. Then one day we had a hurricane come through and it was gone. :( We were sad but I'm glad the children were able to become accustomed to seeing it.
I love wolfspiders, orb weaver, and jumping spiders. You've shown me a new world that you shouldn't fear these spiders. I love your videos and I love that I no longer am afraid of them. Thank you.
Honestly, I've never considered free handling spiders before because they freaked me out. I would actually go out of my way to kill these garden spiders down in south Louisiana. After watching this video, I feel bad for doing that but also kinda want to try to handle it and cure my fear. Your channel has really opened my eyes to the world of spiders and other insects. Thanks man❤️
Glad to be a part of your journey! No need to free handle them, they actually do prefer to be left alone. But if you can respect them as fellow life forms, that’s all I can ask!
i didnt like spiders about a month ago, but I forced myself to watch your videos and it helped me get used to seeing them and even holding some now, thanks for your content and I hope you keep doing what you do!
I counted 4 of these beautiful spiders in my garden this year. They still make me a little squeamish, but watching you handle them is phenomenal. While walking over to my garden , a grasshopper jumped away from me and right into a garden spider web. That was the most brutal attack I have ever seen a spider do! That spider was on him like flies to honey.. it was crazy! I like to keep my distance after seeing that.. hahaha.
The most important part with interacting with them (aside from don't do it unless you have a good reason) is knowing how to read their disposition, much like how you know not to pet a dog when it's agitated and growling. If they feel safe, they're generally not aggressive animals.
Loved this video. I free-handled my first yellow garden spider on July 4th, just two days ago. It was a MASSIVE female. I was so nervous, but after watching you and Jack free-handle so many other spiders, I knew I really had nothing to be afraid of. She was docile, tame, and completely comfortable in my hands. Once I had her in my hands, I didn't want to put her down. Like you, handling her cured me of being afraid to free-handle most spiders!
I just want you to know that your videos are absolutely making a difference. I walked out my front door today into a huge orb web with what I later realized was a gorgeous spider in the middle of it. I was less focused on the beauty when it was smack in the center of my face, but because of your videos, i was able to calm down, take a deep breath, and just wait for it to drop down. Thankfully it decided to simply drop a line from the tip of my nose and leave, which was itself a truly unique sensation
Hello! I don't have arachnophobia, but I am fascinated by these little guys. I love watching you handle them. Great job with this channel and advocating for these tiny beings we share the world with.
Bright colors also indicate any toxicity, so either from a bite, or sting, but also from consumption. She's saying "I have venom." but she's also saying "Don't eat me."
What a sweet girl! She was so cooperative (as always, thanks in part to your careful handling). Interestingly enough, this was one of the first spiders that really intrigued me, even back when I was arachnophobic! That zig-zag pattern of silk in their webs was so cool to me, along with those bright colors. Great video!
Argiopes are so ubiquitous in North America that I think a lot of people have histories with them. I grew up calling them banana spiders! Always found them in the gardens, and was always afraid to get too close. But something about their intricate webs certainly was captivating even when I was afraid too
@MyWildBackyard It's cool that you're able to handle them so easily now, given your old fears. And yeah, they definitely leave an impression on people. I was amazed that a spider/web like that was just hanging out in my neighborhood creek, and dared to get within 3 feet of the web to take a low res picture on my phone 😅
What I found so intriguing about this video is that I used the same spider to help me with my acrachniphobia as well. Now I will admit I still don't want to be around spiders willingly, but I no longer freeze, scream, break out in cold sweets, and hyperventilate around them like I used to. But my fear came from a very unique and rare experience, as I was bitten by a very large tarantula at a very young age, in Texas. But, I will admit that this spider has to be one of the most beautiful spiders ever.
Your passion for nature is refreshing to watch, and I truly appreciate the work you put into making these incredible animals more accessible to those of us who fear them. I find spiders fascinating, but I haven't been able to get over my mental block of interacting with them in any way. When one touches me, my brain instantly switches to a fear response. But I find their lives and contributions to the ecosystem fascinating. Maybe one day I'll have your courage and determinism to power through this fear. For now, I am enjoying your coverage and look forward to exploring your channel!
I have been coping with a weird mixture of arachnophobia and a total fascination with these animals for most of my life. As a little boy I remember seeing a fascinating green spider in the garden and my birth mother pointing to it and saying "Iiieeh!" (yuck!). As adolescent I was fascinated by a wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi) in its web at the local river bank, as adult I loved to see the redknee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi) in the zoo. But at the same time, the idea of touching a spider was abhorrent to me. My neighbour has a huge collection of spiders and he showed me one shining in the most amazing shade of blue under UV light. Once he brought an old terrarium downstairs and obviously forgot to remove one animal, which crawled out and sat in the elevator. Quite a big one, compared to our local species. The idea of sleeping under the same roof as dozens of exotic spiders would have caused me nightmares and sleepless nights once, but now I've understood that they are fascinating and fragile creatures. They've lived on earth millions of years before humans and we're just about to eradicate them from the planet. We need to protect them and their habitats. Earth without spiders would be a sad place.
I had one of these Garden Spiders living in my outdoor pepper patch in TX and we became 'friends' over a Summer a few years ago. One day after a very windy storm I went out to check my garden for damage and couldn't find her. Later while cleaning the pool I found her floating and dead, probably blown there by a wind gust. It was a sad thing but I was grateful to have had a relationship with this interesting creature and share my home with her for a while.
Always get excited when I come across one of these guys because I don’t see them super often, but they’re so pretty and spin the most beautiful webs, so it’s always a treat to find one. One summer probably 15 years ago, one spun a web from the edge of the bottom of the deck to the deck to the grass, and lived there all summer long. I said hi to it every time I walked past as if it were a pet, and spent a long of time watching it. They’re just so cool.
We really enjoyed learning about your experience from arachnophobia to being what we would certainly consider a spider expert! Phenomenal education of everyday species and why we should care. Keep it up, Spencer! Once again, congrats on 100k! Also great call to action! Instant like 👍
I only clicked on this because it said, "...cure your fear...". For some reason I have never been scared of this spider. It's the first time seeing one and she is so fascinating to watch. Thanks for the video!!!
What a majestic animal! Here in Colorado we have some very interesting orb waivers. Also, through your videos, you have completely inspired a six year old girl into the world of arachnids. Thought you should know.
This spider is the reason I found your RUclips channel! My family and I moved to North Carolina 2 years ago from the west coast and I’m still getting used to all of the creatures out here. Thank you for making these amazing videos! They somehow look cute when you call them names like sweetheart, buddy and little lady. Lol
Always love orb weavers, and the garden spider is always one of the easiest to stumble across. They’re just so cool and elegant looking and their webs have such a fascinating design to them.
I miss Ziggy my orb weaver. It was amazing watching her a couple summers back. She even devoured a cicada. When she died, I allowed my sister to take her egg sack to her house. The following year we got to watch one of her children repeat the cycle. I've never been a spider fan, but it gave me a greater respect for spiders.
Another fantastic installment in the curing your arachnophobia series, Argiopes are easily among my favorite North American spiders and they are a really great pick to introduce to someone who is afraid of them. They’re so docile, and the individual you were working with displayed that well. I liked the personal note that you added to this video, hearing more of your story and seeing the progression into the biologist you are now is always inspiring for me. Great work man!
Knew I had to make a special installment for the Argiope. Not kidding when I say my fear melted away after handling one of these, and it was actually watching Chris’s video handling one that I decided to give it a try!
Love your videos, watching you handle these creatures so calmly has inspired me to take the next step in pushing past my own arachnophobia (first step was admiring from a distance for years, second step was educating myself with videos like yours). I will be attempting to free handle my first argiope this summer when they show up in my garden!
Yes, your videos help. Even though my own arachnophobia got smaller year by year, your videos help, at least for me, accellerate that process. I want to try to handle the domestic spiders here, but they are extremly flimsy and quick to catch, so I don't even try to handle them on my hand, but the thought of handling a spider on my hand was a thought I never even considered back when I was a kid. And your videos did and do a great job with that.
@@MyWildBackyard Thank you. Also your Tarantula Videos and your depiction as gentle giants were a great influence on looking at these animals in a complete and different way. I would consider handling one of these gentle giants now on my arm or hand, if someone would ask me to.
I've always seen spiders as akin to feral cats. They live outside, doin their own thing, catchin prey, etc, and when they perceive a threat, they'd always prefer to run rather than fight. I mean, wouldn't you if you were caught by something 10,000 times your size? :p But as @MyWildBackyard said, good for you, seriously. Confronting a deeply held fear like that takes a lot of nerve. I had trypanophobia for a long time (fear of needles) and had to overcome it a couple years back due to me needing to get a *lot* of blood draws. Now I don't have any fear of em at all! Hope you can get there. c:
Just found your channel and wanted to share a story. Never really had arachnophobia and we let our house and cellar spiders do their thing. But a few years ago we had a yellow garden spider build a web across our front door. So of course, we posted signs directing visitors to another door and let her be for the whole summer. Make sure her egg case stayed safe over winter, and watched the babies hatch the next spring. I wish we had more of them!
I don't know if I could ever go and pick one of these guys up. Beautiful, but stumbling upon one of them is always a surprise like "Hello! There you are!" That was one difficult thing to get used to, finding out that spooders leave safety lines. Any time I handle my jumpers, I'm thinking, "Well, thank you for wrapping me up in nature's sugar-free version of cotton candy." These guys are very pretty ♥ I always think of them spraying silly string, lol.
Love it! As a young kid (about 11 or 12), I used to catch these in baby food jars. The ones I caught had huge, bulbous abdomens though. Never saw any with the "thin" abdomen. Awesome video! Brought back a lot of memories.
These spiders have been my favorites for over 30 years! I can’t tell you how many I have handled over the years. Certainly hundreds! I have many videos on my channel of me feeding and holding both black & yellow and banded garden spiders. ❤
Thanks to your video, I went out to the forest around my North Carolina home, found a large orb weaver (banana spider in this case) and let her crawl around on my hand. I was not afraid of her thanks to you. It was an amazing experience.
Thank you for your calming message. I was unsure if the Yellow Garden Spider was a danger to me or my pets. BTW: I notice the spider "holds onto its web and shakes" to warn me to stay away from it.
Yep. And it's mostly just asking you not to make it rebuild its web. As you can see it's not particularly threatened by a person's presence unless they go out of their way to make themselves a threat. It knows you can stumble into its web like anything else, but it wasn't rated for catching godzilla so kindly notice it's there and go away please lol.
The oscillation on the web is also a defensive maneuver that may keep birds and other such predators so confused as to the spider's actual location that they can't strike at it. Amazing sight to see, in any case. I had a particularly large one on my back porch a few years ago.. She and her web were so stout that she could do waves of nearly 9 inches from one end to the other. No bird would have stood a chance of catching that one!
Man! And here I was so proud of myself for picking up the small jumping spider in the back yard last week. If we had those here in California, nobody would go outside. Ha ha! In all seriousness, your channel really has eliminated my family's arachnophobia.
Not to scare you or anything, but we do have garden spiders like this in California. I think they're technically a different species (green garden spiders) and tend to be a bit smaller, but are otherwise similar. I found a bunch out near a landfill in the Bay Area, and have seen them in fields in northern cali as well! I don't think they are as prolific as yellow garden spiders can be in other states, but if you're determined you can find them!
I’m so glad to hear it man! It does take time, but it really is worth it. And it means a lot to read all the comments and see how people are beating their fears. Thanks for being a part of the whole journey here! Stay tuned for an email, once I finish some of the projects this week I’m gonna be getting ready to send out the shirts!
We definitely do have these exact same ones in California. I never saw them my whole life until recently a new housing community was built on the outskirts of town in the fields and this is in the Sacramento Area. Weird
I grew up all my youth between my granddad’s large farm in western Pennsylvania, my auntie’s farm near Beaminster Dorset, U.K. and another auntie’s small farm just north of Oslo Norway. I was exposed to so many insects, snakes, etc. and bitten or stung by everything which can fly, swim, crawl or hop that I early on lost all fear of spiders, snakes and on and on. Cautious around the more dangerous ones? Obviously. These tiny creatures of the earth are fascinating and beautiful to me though some are better seen from a respectful distance. Each has its place and right to its life in the universe. None are evil the way humans can be. Good for you for working through your fears!
I've got to give you credit for single handedly helping me get over my arachnophobia. In a matter of a few months of watching your channel I've gone from acting like a little girl around spiders to going out of my way to interact with them. Keep up the good work and quality content.
Wow man that’s cool, I never was very scared of spiders but my mom was . This is one of the first spiders I handled also. Mainly because I walked through her web and had to get her off my shoulder lol. While we’re on the subject of big orb weavers, my golden silk weavers have started making egg cases and I now am up to 14 ! I need to share some of anyone is interested. Leave a reply and I’ll get up with ya 😊
That's so cool....I was deathly fearful of spiders & until I got sick of being scared. So I went into a pet store & told the shop lady, 'just put a tarantula on me. Ever since, I'm in love. I'm still really cautious for the more toxic ones. Just gotta respect their space
My brain just started screaming "ORB WEAVER ORB WEAVER" on loop the moment I mentally processed the thumbnail. They're my second favorite spider after huntsman spiders. Huntsman spiders are my favorite because they don't make webs and they're helpfully everywhere in Japan (I plan on moving to Japan). Webs are annoying when indoors.
You should do a video on Joro spiders, which folks here in Georgia can't stop freaking out about, and could use a fresh perspective on. Even though they still make me nervous, I love spiders, and have spent years controlling my fear of them, thanks for the fun videos, nice to see someone who appreciates these animals instead of spreading more unnecessary fear. A little fun fact: the best explanation science has to explain the common fear of spiders and snakes, is because the human brain learns by searching for patterns, and because these creatures don't move in an easily recognizable pattern, this causes us to have anxiety about them. I think this is why most people get used to tarantulas before spiders, as their size and slow movements make it easier to recognize a pattern. Something I discovered during my undergraduate thesis.
Workin on getting to Georgia for Joros! Been a big target for a while. And you know, that’s actually really fascinating. I’d love to talk about that in a future video! Can you link me some of the research so I can cite it?
@@MyWildBackyard I will have to dig out my old research and see if I can find it. I was researching how designed spaces affect human emotions (architecture thesis), so It wasn't something I was citing in my own work, but something I stumbled upon and never forgot. I will make sure to report back to you if I find it!
Please consider going to Volusia County in Daytona Beach, FL. I was there in college back in 1988-1990 and saw a number of large Garden Spiders of this type, much larger than I've seen online in any videos from any source. The largest I saw was the size of my hand (I'm 6'3 barefoot and have Catcher's mitt hands, so roughly a 10 inch leg span). It was in a center of web that was about 22 feet in length. Fascinated and in disbelief, I walked up to it and it was about 2 feet about my head. Scared the shit out of me. It was at the corner of Nova Road and Bellevue Ave. There's a thick grouping of forest that extends toward S Clyde Morris Blvd that had a large number of these spiders. I saw them when I would walk or bike from school to my off-campus housing room. I've always wondered if they are still breeding in that area and if they're still that large. Please go and investigate, if you can. If so, that would be a great video.
Ooooo Zipper Spider! Even as a kid, I loved catchinv grasshoppers and other insects to stick on their webs and watch them wrap em up. Never been bitten, never even seen one TRY to bite- but it is AWESOME to watch them wrap up food.
Heck yeah, love it! Great content! Spiders are just animals like you and me and they don't deserve all the hate they get. They deserve respect like every other creature does. Without them, think of how many more flies and mosquitoes would be annoying us and biting us all the time!
Animals are amazing teachers! A dog taught me not to be afraid of them, cats taught me not to be afraid of them and have been a cat owner almost 50 years, and a spider taught me not to be afraid. Used to be scared of carpenter ants because one bit me as a child. But now I realize you leave them alone they’ll go on about their business. I don’t encounter too many live crabs so I still am a little scared of them. Never met a goat but their eyes scare me. But I’ve seen how friendly they are online so I can somewhat ignore their crazy eyes.
Agriope aurantia Are my favorite and how I got over my arachnophobia too! So much so that I now have tarantulas I love dearly! Thank you for showing their beauty, they are a gentle giant who deserve a lot of love and recognition! 💚
I was so happy to find one of these beautiful orb weavers next to my farmhouse. I have a great picture of her feasting on a locust that she'd caught as I loved visiting her every evening while watering flowers. She became a familiar 'friend' in a sense and my wife would lightly spray her web so she'd have water during the drought we had this summer in Missouri. These lovely spiders aren't as common as when I was a kid for some reason. With the first frost she's gone-but she left behind 3 egg sacs so I'm sure one of her offspring will build a web in the same spot mother did. It's fascinating to watch them build a web from scratch-they don't mind at all the pesky mammal with only two eyes gawking at them.
Great video! It’s really important to teach people that these spiders aren’t harmful in any way. Those orb weavers are so beautiful! We don’t get those too much where I am in the city, but occasionally one will set up a web somewhere near our house and I love to watch them. Humans don’t come pre-loaded with a ton of instincts like so many other animals have, but I think fear of spiders is an instinct in humans. Humans also seem to have a built-in fear of snakes. It doesn’t appear to be something we learn, but rather something we have to unlearn. I remember being three or four years old and being fascinated with all sorts of bugs - I’d pick up beetles, caterpillars, worms, pill bugs, etc., with no fear of them - but spiders terrified me. I wouldn’t go near them. I think we can’t help being afraid of them. When I was maybe 10-11 years old, my mother signed me up for summer classes at our local zoo and our arboretum. The class I remember the most was about invertebrates. We were taught about all the insects, arachnids, isopods, and other bugs of our area. One of the main points they stressed was that we shouldn’t be afraid of them. They aren’t trying to harm us; if they bite or sting, it’s because they feel threatened. Unless you’re a yellow jacket, and then you’re just a jerk. We were taught which bugs to steer clear of - black widows, brown recluses, centipedes, puss caterpillars (asps), and so on - but we were also shown how to safely catch and handle many other bugs. They even brought in a tarantula for us to handle one day, although only a few of us were brave enough to let him crawl on us. That class did wonders for me when it came to getting past my arachnophobia.
Fear of something is picked up through our experiences or lack of. Fear of spiders can come from your parent or parents during maturity, Or anyone close to you, Or from consuming media, Or from bad experiences.. Or even fear of the unknown that triggers it. There are many traits you can pick up genetically from your parents, But your emotional connections to things is not one of them.. This is developed.
You’re absolutely right- I only ever pick them up for demonstration purposes. They really prefer to be left alone, but if these videos help people see them as something to coexist with, then I’m doin my job!
I'm terrified of spiders. Have tried to overcome the fear over the last few years. Am only at the stage of poking a web. Thanks for giving me the confidence to keep working on it!
I'm so glad this video made it into my recs today. When I saw "spider will cure arachnophobia" I immediately assumed it was another jumping spider video. Boy was I in for a shock! But I'm so glad I stuck around to hear you talk about the garden spider, because it helped me see them as less frightening. Very happy to have stumbled on this video, insta subscribed.
Glad to have you! Jumping spiders are a great place to start if you're working on your fear, but these guys and wolf spiders, once I worked up the nerve to get close to them, basically put the fear to rest forever.
I grew up in NC and we had doors to our deck that we rarely used. Each of them would always have an orb weaver. Im still scared kf spiders, but orb weavers have a special place in my heart.
I've never feared spiders, but always respected them since is was very young and was taken to a local tarantula exhibit some organization had set up. So I was facinated by them very early on, had posters and everything in my room. But I've never thought of owning one. Then I saw a video a while back of a girl with arachnophbia ordering and living with a bold jumping spider for a few weeks to hopefully help her overcome her fear. Great and fun little video. I always knew jumping spiders were special but that video really got me to appreciate it's charisma and character. I'm planning on getting myself a big jumping spider (a bold one too) one day. I just have some reading up to do first...
Had at least 4 of these every year that would build a web in the windows of our kitchen growing up. I’m scared shite-less of spiders, but these were amazing to watch. I loved the zig-zag they always made in the middle. Also, they NEVER came inside, so we were cool.
Between your videos and Lucas, I have gone from being deathly afraid of spiders to now studying and sometimes handling them (to relocate from the house) and they are like little puppies.
I’ve always loved these spiders ever since I was a kid. Until jumping spiders I was never a fan of arachnids except for these guys because I knew they served a key role in the garden. Now I love all spiders and will whatever I can to protect these orb weavers if I see them in the yard or garden.
Orb weavers in general have helped me get over my fear/disgust of spiders. I've happily come to understand their place in nature and how they greatly benefit us. I was very lucky to have female Castleback Orb weaver make her web by my front door and stick around for nearly 2 weeks. Beautiful and fascinating little creatures.
I've never had arachnophobia, but there were species I definitely stayed away from when I was young. I grew up in a desert, so I was more worried about scorpions and rattlesnakes. Glad you overcame your fear, but you're crazy for handling that wandering spider. Handling a wandering spider, I would estimate as being kind of like handling a death adder. Not likely to bit, but if it does, it's a real bad day.
I used to be terrified of spiders. It didn't help that I'm allergic to them so simply smashing one on my skin created a horrible reaction. But now I'm absolutely fascinated by them. My turning point was watching Lucas the spider cartoons and then watching a video about how jumping spiders can make a great pet. I have been hooked ever since. 😁
I currently have a Yellow Garden Spider outside that built a huge web on my deck and I cheer it on when I catches the hornets that have been bothering me outside. Spiders are the best pest control
Was just visiting my son in Nebraska and he took a photo of a spider in his yard. This is what kind it was. I don't like spiders because of a deep fear I have of them but this is a pretty kind of spider. Love the markings!
I have arachnophobia. The only reason why i stumbled into this video was because i saw a picture of this spider, and I was surprised that i didn't have the reaction i have with other spiders. These actually look so cool
_Argiope aurantia_ is my absolute favorite spider in the whole, wide world. I love when one of these sets up her amazing web somewhere outside my house, because I know they are harmless. I unwisely handled one as a child and was quite surprised by how much those huge fangs really didn't hurt much more than a thorn scratch or a bumblebee sting. She bit me in self-defense when I accidentally squeezed her a bit in my hand. And... if you've never seen one of these spiders doing her defensive web-bouncing maneuver, well, you're in for another surprise, when you do see it!
Here in upstate South Carolina we see them all the time in the summer and early fall months. The gold and black Garden Weaver spider is one of my favorites as well.
I used to live in my aunts basement and had a debilitating fear of bugs. There were wolf spiders in the bathroom literally every time i went in it was horrible. But, we had this one yellow garden spider which had perched its web outside our basement window. We named her Gardenia. She didnt move much, just hung out and looked pretty. Later she actually moved to the garage for a while before she, presumably, passed away. She did actually help my arachnaphobia so much. She was still, so i didnt have to worry about the skittering legs, and she was absolutely beautiful too. Tarantulas were another one that helped because they are fluffy and chunky fellas which also have gorgeous patterns. I still have bad arachnaphobia and losthe wolf spiders, but i would love to get to a point where I can appreciate spiders without the fear.
that noise you made talking about your first reaction made me laugh out loud because that's exactly how I feel 😂 I've been watching your videos even though spiders scare the living hell out of me 😭
I always enjoy watching the cautious little tapity- tap movements orb weavers do with their legs when exploring a hand or unfamiliar surface. Since they have poor vision and rely on their web to be their eyes, the spindly legs remind me of blind mobility canes tapping around.
This is the video, that will get me over my fear. I'm headed out tonight to find any spider and we will become friends. Seriously, well done, Spencer. I'd say spiders rank higher than snakes in terms of fear, even if the stats disagree.
I think you’re right! I always hear more people that say they’re afraid of spiders than snakes, but interestingly enough another commenter proposed a hypothesis he came across in his masters thesis- the reason we fear spiders and snakes is due to their unpredictable nature compared to mammals. Very interesting stuff
@@MyWildBackyard That's an interesting hypothesis. My take, which is purely anecdotal, is people's fears cause a more chaotic response when encountering a spider or snake. If someone is jittering or nervous with a tarantula, for example, the tarantula tends to react in a more hostile manner. Chicken or egg kind of thing? Or? Is it because spiders and snakes can be handled more often than mammals, which would result in more stings, pinches, and bites? It's been a minute since I've held a javelina. 😉
I have a spiny orb weaver that lives directly above my front door. I was scared even to walk underneath her and was planning to just spray her with bug spray and call it a day. One night I went to take the trash out and I opened the door and almost walked right into her. I looked directly into the spiders eyes and realized, they are just living their lives just like us. Now I feed her a snack every few days and she keeps the mosquitoes out of my house! They are truly amazing creatures.
You’re braver than me bro. Even watching this is genuinely anxiety inducing for me. Just seeing the movements. I am trying so hard to cure my arachnophobia, but it’s hard.
Barn Orbweavers very much did the same for me. Not the first spiders I’ve handled, but definitely the ones that got me over the worst of it. And they’re very similar to these garden spiders that you guys get in the states.
I have been really trying. My spider that I'm working with is the jumping spider. For some reason they do not frighten me. Now I really enjoy most insects especially praying mantis. Thanks for the excellent videos
Orb Weavers in general are super cool. Thanks for the idea of starting with one. I can't handle jumping spiders because the sudden movements freak me out.
One of these beauties planted a gigantic web on our front door and hung there upside down in the center of it, effectively "trapping" us in the house! Terrifying scene! My friend got brave and went through the door then opened a can of Black Flag all over the spider and web. She said she felt badly about her fear taking over in such a violent way. Now we both know to just let spiders be, unless they are Wolfies--whose bite has sent me to urgent care twice. But I use peppermint oil and eucalyptus in the Windows to keep them at bay. Thanks for your videos!!
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awesome vid my dude
You're the Real life Spiderman
It's hard to imagine you were ever grossed out by spiders. Lol. ✌👍
Would you handle a slug? =)
Jumping spiders: cutest non menacing creature. 10/10 would touch.
This Spawn of hell: I'll jump and scream. Goosebumps maker nightmare fuel creature.
"The more we push past fear, the more rich and fascinating the world becomes" is such a great line that can apply to more than just Spiders and the natural world. Great quote, definitely going to remember that from now on. ❤
That’s right. So no need to be homophobe or transphobic right? As a matter of fact, why fear anything?
@@digitaldazzle5836Are you being sarcastic? There is no need to be homophobic or transphobic. Fearing people based off of your own assumptions without even bothering to fact check yourself is wrong. The same goes for insects. Of course, some people are still going to be scared and that’s fine.
I moved into a new house back in 1986 and I couldn't find any of the yellow garden spiders for several months. My mosquito problem was TERRIBLE. The orb weavers spiders will remove their webs every day and build a fresh one. During the spring, I saw a few yellow garden spiders where I worked, so I made plans to capture some and transport them to my house. Five years later and I still had a huge population of them around the house. Every day, the webs would be FURRY with dead mosquitos! My mosquito problem also was reduced to about nothing over a couple of years, so the spiders really did their job!
One of the best backyard pets you could have.
Yes!
Now I’m upset …. Pretty sure we and my father killed one thinking it was poisonous
@@baffledsquirrel2122 All spiders are venomous except Uloboridae. Most species have venom too weak to affect humans. On top of that, they are very docile. Even the highly venomous ones like widows and recluses are gentle who never bite unless pressed against skin.
He's the Real life Spiderman
I don't mind them outside 😅
Wow! It didn't occur to me that golden garden spiders are actually great at curing arachnophobia! It's so cool that you had this help cure your arachnophobia, a great first spider :)
Lots of spiders are great for it, but everyone has that one spider that really shatters the fear. This one was that for me!
The other day at work there was a wolf spider than decided to run straight across the floor in front of two of my department managers, who are both arachnophobes. They both freaked out and started silent screaming while backing into the corner of the desk. My coworker was about to stomp on it but I put my hand down in front of the spider, stole it up onto my wrist, and walked out the side door to let it crawl onto a outside railing. The looks I got when I came back in and the "You're f**ing crazy" I got from my department manager is something I won't be forgetting for a while. Thanks Spencer for these videos! Keep up the good work :)
Heck yeah! I loved being the "You're f***ing crazy" guy!
As kids I used to see these spiders everywhere but now as an adult I rarely see them anymore. We'd catch em and feed them. When they bounce their webs they can be intimidating but I found they're pretty friendly overall for their size.
Pesticides have been destroying the populations.
When they use their intimidation display, they can be intimidating.
Imagine that.
@@HorizonStronghold 1994 10 years old. Imagine that.
When I was a young boy, I used to handle Lactrodectus brown widow spider when I was a kid. I used to handle them without fear. I tried to handle a certain spider. I think it was a sac spider. That spider then bit my finger, and I felt a mild venom getting into me. I immediately dropped it on the ground. From that moment, I began to be afraid of spiders and made sure that I didn't handle spiders even today. I fear spiders even today. I hate the thought that they could bite me.
Orb weavers in general are very tame and their venom is not potent to humans at all.
As a kid, I always thought that these garden spiders were very cool. My dad said that they were good for the garden, & to leave them alone, like you explained. Thanks for the memories.
I haven't handled any spider other than jumping spiders, the garden spider & the golden orb Weaver are the spiders that broke my arachnophobia. Such amazing creatures with personalities all their own
Blessings fam 🫀
How did it cure your arachnophobia?
I hope I will get there too! Blessings for you aswell!
It’s funny to hear that a spider that was pretty instrumental in myself fearing them, had the opposite effect on someone. Your jumping spider videos helped me overcome that and now I’m more open to handling them if not still a little squeamish, but to hear the way you talk about taking the time to understand them and how they operate to further your passion for exploring things like nature, animals and insects alike, it’s incredibly inspiring and I’m always appreciative to see the new creature you want to show off. Much love to you and your future adventures❤️
Jumping spiders are definitely the best starting point. This one was where the fear started to really melt away for me
Jumping spiders in no way kreep me out but almost every other spider does. I have sat with a jumping spider on my arm several times and had full on conversations, and they sat their intently maintained eye contact and listend the whole while. You can tell by that look in their eyes they are pretty damn smart. They have done tests on them and found out they are able to use forewars thinking and are great problem solvers.
Yup! I’m an arachnophobia. I wrote about it when you were hunting that purple tarantula. I’ve been watching videos like this for years in an attempt to relieve my fear. I’ve gone from fainting at the sight of an arachnid (even at a picture), to being able to admire them at a safe distance. Thank you and all of the other creators who do a wonderful job of showcasing the beauty of these creatures. Y’all have a blessed day!
Thank you so much! You've come a long way, great job.
Glad you can admire these beautiful creatures!
Until you're walking in the woods and not noticing the big web and it's all on your face and you're wondering where did the spider go😮😢
On your head lol
So true that's hilarious. 😂
I also had arachnophobia, until I joined a spider group on FB. I finally started educating myself and realized how cool and misunderstood they are! I always have my spider catching cup handy instead of a flyswatter for when they wander in the house. I've only held a few tiny ones though 😅
You are a good person.
Wait until you get a giant huntsman in your house 😂. Kidding, glad you're over it. I've had a tarantula for 17 years. She's actually about 26 years old.
@@wayofthekodiak3118 aw I wish we had huntsman spiders here! Also that's crazy I didn't realize they lived that long! That's amazing
@@jessd423 The females live a lot longer than the males. Mexican firelegs are known to live over 50 years. I'm in Texas the huntsmen here are small but the wolf spiders are huge. I had a brown recluse in my place recently and decided to dispatch it unfortunately. I work in tight spaces filled with spiders and brown recluses still make me nervous.
@@wayofthekodiak3118oh wow I didn't realize that about tarantulas! That's amazing. Yikes. Yeah I don't know how I would feel if I were near a brown recluse. We definitely have them here in Montana but I've never seen one fortunately. No huntsmen here either. Just bears 😂
We had one of these in our school garden for weeks, and the kids got used to seeing it every day. It was a great way to talk about how cool it looked and how important it was for our garden. Then one day we had a hurricane come through and it was gone. :( We were sad but I'm glad the children were able to become accustomed to seeing it.
I love wolfspiders, orb weaver, and jumping spiders. You've shown me a new world that you shouldn't fear these spiders. I love your videos and I love that I no longer am afraid of them. Thank you.
Honestly, I've never considered free handling spiders before because they freaked me out. I would actually go out of my way to kill these garden spiders down in south Louisiana. After watching this video, I feel bad for doing that but also kinda want to try to handle it and cure my fear. Your channel has really opened my eyes to the world of spiders and other insects. Thanks man❤️
Glad to be a part of your journey! No need to free handle them, they actually do prefer to be left alone. But if you can respect them as fellow life forms, that’s all I can ask!
If you want to start free handling, I'd suggest a jumping spider. Very curious and smart spiders.
i didnt like spiders about a month ago, but I forced myself to watch your videos and it helped me get used to seeing them and even holding some now, thanks for your content and I hope you keep doing what you do!
Plenty more to come! You’re doing great, so glad I could help!
I counted 4 of these beautiful spiders in my garden this year. They still make me a little squeamish, but watching you handle them is phenomenal. While walking over to my garden , a grasshopper jumped away from me and right into a garden spider web. That was the most brutal attack I have ever seen a spider do! That spider was on him like flies to honey.. it was crazy! I like to keep my distance after seeing that.. hahaha.
The most important part with interacting with them (aside from don't do it unless you have a good reason) is knowing how to read their disposition, much like how you know not to pet a dog when it's agitated and growling. If they feel safe, they're generally not aggressive animals.
Loved this video. I free-handled my first yellow garden spider on July 4th, just two days ago. It was a MASSIVE female. I was so nervous, but after watching you and Jack free-handle so many other spiders, I knew I really had nothing to be afraid of. She was docile, tame, and completely comfortable in my hands. Once I had her in my hands, I didn't want to put her down. Like you, handling her cured me of being afraid to free-handle most spiders!
I just want you to know that your videos are absolutely making a difference. I walked out my front door today into a huge orb web with what I later realized was a gorgeous spider in the middle of it. I was less focused on the beauty when it was smack in the center of my face, but because of your videos, i was able to calm down, take a deep breath, and just wait for it to drop down. Thankfully it decided to simply drop a line from the tip of my nose and leave, which was itself a truly unique sensation
Thank you so much! So glad to hear it!
Hello! I don't have arachnophobia, but I am fascinated by these little guys. I love watching you handle them. Great job with this channel and advocating for these tiny beings we share the world with.
Thank you! Glad to share all these amazing lil critters!
They are absolutely gorgeous spiders, and one of my favorites! Mirror spiders and banana spiders are really pretty too.
Bright colors also indicate any toxicity, so either from a bite, or sting, but also from consumption. She's saying "I have venom." but she's also saying "Don't eat me."
What a sweet girl! She was so cooperative (as always, thanks in part to your careful handling).
Interestingly enough, this was one of the first spiders that really intrigued me, even back when I was arachnophobic! That zig-zag pattern of silk in their webs was so cool to me, along with those bright colors. Great video!
Argiopes are so ubiquitous in North America that I think a lot of people have histories with them. I grew up calling them banana spiders! Always found them in the gardens, and was always afraid to get too close. But something about their intricate webs certainly was captivating even when I was afraid too
@MyWildBackyard It's cool that you're able to handle them so easily now, given your old fears. And yeah, they definitely leave an impression on people. I was amazed that a spider/web like that was just hanging out in my neighborhood creek, and dared to get within 3 feet of the web to take a low res picture on my phone 😅
What I found so intriguing about this video is that I used the same spider to help me with my acrachniphobia as well. Now I will admit I still don't want to be around spiders willingly, but I no longer freeze, scream, break out in cold sweets, and hyperventilate around them like I used to. But my fear came from a very unique and rare experience, as I was bitten by a very large tarantula at a very young age, in Texas. But, I will admit that this spider has to be one of the most beautiful spiders ever.
Your passion for nature is refreshing to watch, and I truly appreciate the work you put into making these incredible animals more accessible to those of us who fear them. I find spiders fascinating, but I haven't been able to get over my mental block of interacting with them in any way. When one touches me, my brain instantly switches to a fear response. But I find their lives and contributions to the ecosystem fascinating. Maybe one day I'll have your courage and determinism to power through this fear. For now, I am enjoying your coverage and look forward to exploring your channel!
I have been coping with a weird mixture of arachnophobia and a total fascination with these animals for most of my life. As a little boy I remember seeing a fascinating green spider in the garden and my birth mother pointing to it and saying "Iiieeh!" (yuck!). As adolescent I was fascinated by a wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi) in its web at the local river bank, as adult I loved to see the redknee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi) in the zoo. But at the same time, the idea of touching a spider was abhorrent to me. My neighbour has a huge collection of spiders and he showed me one shining in the most amazing shade of blue under UV light. Once he brought an old terrarium downstairs and obviously forgot to remove one animal, which crawled out and sat in the elevator. Quite a big one, compared to our local species. The idea of sleeping under the same roof as dozens of exotic spiders would have caused me nightmares and sleepless nights once, but now I've understood that they are fascinating and fragile creatures. They've lived on earth millions of years before humans and we're just about to eradicate them from the planet. We need to protect them and their habitats. Earth without spiders would be a sad place.
Growing up, I LOVED these spiders. They helped foster my curiosity for all insects. Great video.
Spiders aren't insects. They're arachnids, which is something different.
I had one of these Garden Spiders living in my outdoor pepper patch in TX and we became 'friends' over a Summer a few years ago. One day after a very windy storm I went out to check my garden for damage and couldn't find her. Later while cleaning the pool I found her floating and dead, probably blown there by a wind gust. It was a sad thing but I was grateful to have had a relationship with this interesting creature and share my home with her for a while.
My first time seeing one, the size and coloration freaked me out! But now a welcome guest in the yard, and I love feeding and interacting with them.
Always get excited when I come across one of these guys because I don’t see them super often, but they’re so pretty and spin the most beautiful webs, so it’s always a treat to find one.
One summer probably 15 years ago, one spun a web from the edge of the bottom of the deck to the deck to the grass, and lived there all summer long. I said hi to it every time I walked past as if it were a pet, and spent a long of time watching it.
They’re just so cool.
We really enjoyed learning about your experience from arachnophobia to being what we would certainly consider a spider expert! Phenomenal education of everyday species and why we should care. Keep it up, Spencer! Once again, congrats on 100k!
Also great call to action! Instant like 👍
Been a crazy ride! And glad you noticed that lil mid-roll CTA! Highly recommend testing stuff like that on your channel as well!
I only clicked on this because it said, "...cure your fear...". For some reason I have never been scared of this spider. It's the first time seeing one and she is so fascinating to watch. Thanks for the video!!!
What a majestic animal! Here in Colorado we have some very interesting orb waivers. Also, through your videos, you have completely inspired a six year old girl into the world of arachnids. Thought you should know.
This spider is the reason I found your RUclips channel! My family and I moved to North Carolina 2 years ago from the west coast and I’m still getting used to all of the creatures out here. Thank you for making these amazing videos! They somehow look cute when you call them names like sweetheart, buddy and little lady. Lol
Always love orb weavers, and the garden spider is always one of the easiest to stumble across.
They’re just so cool and elegant looking and their webs have such a fascinating design to them.
I miss Ziggy my orb weaver. It was amazing watching her a couple summers back. She even devoured a cicada. When she died, I allowed my sister to take her egg sack to her house. The following year we got to watch one of her children repeat the cycle. I've never been a spider fan, but it gave me a greater respect for spiders.
Another fantastic installment in the curing your arachnophobia series, Argiopes are easily among my favorite North American spiders and they are a really great pick to introduce to someone who is afraid of them. They’re so docile, and the individual you were working with displayed that well. I liked the personal note that you added to this video, hearing more of your story and seeing the progression into the biologist you are now is always inspiring for me. Great work man!
Knew I had to make a special installment for the Argiope. Not kidding when I say my fear melted away after handling one of these, and it was actually watching Chris’s video handling one that I decided to give it a try!
Love your videos, watching you handle these creatures so calmly has inspired me to take the next step in pushing past my own arachnophobia (first step was admiring from a distance for years, second step was educating myself with videos like yours). I will be attempting to free handle my first argiope this summer when they show up in my garden!
Yes, your videos help.
Even though my own arachnophobia got smaller year by year, your videos help, at least for me, accellerate that process.
I want to try to handle the domestic spiders here, but they are extremly flimsy and quick to catch, so I don't even try to handle them on my hand, but the thought of handling a spider on my hand was a thought I never even considered back when I was a kid.
And your videos did and do a great job with that.
You’re doing great. Gotta give yourself credit too, you’re confronting your fear head on! Proud of ya.
@@MyWildBackyard Thank you. Also your Tarantula Videos and your depiction as gentle giants were a great influence on looking at these animals in a complete and different way. I would consider handling one of these gentle giants now on my arm or hand, if someone would ask me to.
I've always seen spiders as akin to feral cats. They live outside, doin their own thing, catchin prey, etc, and when they perceive a threat, they'd always prefer to run rather than fight. I mean, wouldn't you if you were caught by something 10,000 times your size? :p
But as @MyWildBackyard said, good for you, seriously. Confronting a deeply held fear like that takes a lot of nerve. I had trypanophobia for a long time (fear of needles) and had to overcome it a couple years back due to me needing to get a *lot* of blood draws. Now I don't have any fear of em at all! Hope you can get there. c:
Just found your channel and wanted to share a story. Never really had arachnophobia and we let our house and cellar spiders do their thing. But a few years ago we had a yellow garden spider build a web across our front door. So of course, we posted signs directing visitors to another door and let her be for the whole summer. Make sure her egg case stayed safe over winter, and watched the babies hatch the next spring. I wish we had more of them!
Thanks for sharing! I bet she appreciated that
I don't know if I could ever go and pick one of these guys up. Beautiful, but stumbling upon one of them is always a surprise like "Hello! There you are!" That was one difficult thing to get used to, finding out that spooders leave safety lines. Any time I handle my jumpers, I'm thinking, "Well, thank you for wrapping me up in nature's sugar-free version of cotton candy." These guys are very pretty ♥ I always think of them spraying silly string, lol.
Love it! As a young kid (about 11 or 12), I used to catch these in baby food jars. The ones I caught had huge, bulbous abdomens though. Never saw any with the "thin" abdomen. Awesome video! Brought back a lot of memories.
These spiders have been my favorites for over 30 years! I can’t tell you how many I have handled over the years. Certainly hundreds! I have many videos on my channel of me feeding and holding both black & yellow and banded garden spiders. ❤
Thanks to your video, I went out to the forest around my North Carolina home, found a large orb weaver (banana spider in this case) and let her crawl around on my hand. I was not afraid of her thanks to you. It was an amazing experience.
Thank you for your calming message. I was unsure if the Yellow Garden Spider was a danger to me or my pets. BTW: I notice the spider "holds onto its web and shakes" to warn me to stay away from it.
Yep. And it's mostly just asking you not to make it rebuild its web. As you can see it's not particularly threatened by a person's presence unless they go out of their way to make themselves a threat. It knows you can stumble into its web like anything else, but it wasn't rated for catching godzilla so kindly notice it's there and go away please lol.
The oscillation on the web is also a defensive maneuver that may keep birds and other such predators so confused as to the spider's actual location that they can't strike at it. Amazing sight to see, in any case. I had a particularly large one on my back porch a few years ago.. She and her web were so stout that she could do waves of nearly 9 inches from one end to the other. No bird would have stood a chance of catching that one!
@@samuelmorgan1295 nope I kill the bastards they are creepy and I hate that they build their web right in front of my door
Out beyond the edge, looking at the world past fear and with love. Thank you for sharing your own joy and journey.
Man! And here I was so proud of myself for picking up the small jumping spider in the back yard last week.
If we had those here in California, nobody would go outside. Ha ha!
In all seriousness, your channel really has eliminated my family's arachnophobia.
Not to scare you or anything, but we do have garden spiders like this in California. I think they're technically a different species (green garden spiders) and tend to be a bit smaller, but are otherwise similar. I found a bunch out near a landfill in the Bay Area, and have seen them in fields in northern cali as well! I don't think they are as prolific as yellow garden spiders can be in other states, but if you're determined you can find them!
These spiders are so neat!!!!
I’m so glad to hear it man! It does take time, but it really is worth it. And it means a lot to read all the comments and see how people are beating their fears. Thanks for being a part of the whole journey here! Stay tuned for an email, once I finish some of the projects this week I’m gonna be getting ready to send out the shirts!
We definitely do have these exact same ones in California. I never saw them my whole life until recently a new housing community was built on the outskirts of town in the fields and this is in the Sacramento Area. Weird
I grew up all my youth between my granddad’s large farm in western Pennsylvania, my auntie’s farm near Beaminster Dorset, U.K. and another auntie’s small farm just north of Oslo Norway. I was exposed to so many insects, snakes, etc. and bitten or stung by everything which can fly, swim, crawl or hop that I early on lost all fear of spiders, snakes and on and on. Cautious around the more dangerous ones? Obviously. These tiny creatures of the earth are fascinating and beautiful to me though some are better seen from a respectful distance. Each has its place and right to its life in the universe. None are evil the way humans can be. Good for you for working through your fears!
I've got to give you credit for single handedly helping me get over my arachnophobia. In a matter of a few months of watching your channel I've gone from acting like a little girl around spiders to going out of my way to interact with them.
Keep up the good work and quality content.
Wow man that’s cool, I never was very scared of spiders but my mom was . This is one of the first spiders I handled also. Mainly because I walked through her web and had to get her off my shoulder lol. While we’re on the subject of big orb weavers, my golden silk weavers have started making egg cases and I now am up to 14 ! I need to share some of anyone is interested. Leave a reply and I’ll get up with ya 😊
That's so cool....I was deathly fearful of spiders & until I got sick of being scared. So I went into a pet store & told the shop lady, 'just put a tarantula on me. Ever since, I'm in love. I'm still really cautious for the more toxic ones. Just gotta respect their space
My brain just started screaming "ORB WEAVER ORB WEAVER" on loop the moment I mentally processed the thumbnail. They're my second favorite spider after huntsman spiders. Huntsman spiders are my favorite because they don't make webs and they're helpfully everywhere in Japan (I plan on moving to Japan). Webs are annoying when indoors.
Love orb weavers! Glad to be able to share them with ya!
You should do a video on Joro spiders, which folks here in Georgia can't stop freaking out about, and could use a fresh perspective on. Even though they still make me nervous, I love spiders, and have spent years controlling my fear of them, thanks for the fun videos, nice to see someone who appreciates these animals instead of spreading more unnecessary fear.
A little fun fact: the best explanation science has to explain the common fear of spiders and snakes, is because the human brain learns by searching for patterns, and because these creatures don't move in an easily recognizable pattern, this causes us to have anxiety about them. I think this is why most people get used to tarantulas before spiders, as their size and slow movements make it easier to recognize a pattern. Something I discovered during my undergraduate thesis.
Workin on getting to Georgia for Joros! Been a big target for a while. And you know, that’s actually really fascinating. I’d love to talk about that in a future video! Can you link me some of the research so I can cite it?
@@MyWildBackyard I will have to dig out my old research and see if I can find it. I was researching how designed spaces affect human emotions (architecture thesis), so It wasn't something I was citing in my own work, but something I stumbled upon and never forgot. I will make sure to report back to you if I find it!
Please consider going to Volusia County in Daytona Beach, FL. I was there in college back in 1988-1990 and saw a number of large Garden Spiders of this type, much larger than I've seen online in any videos from any source. The largest I saw was the size of my hand (I'm 6'3 barefoot and have Catcher's mitt hands, so roughly a 10 inch leg span). It was in a center of web that was about 22 feet in length. Fascinated and in disbelief, I walked up to it and it was about 2 feet about my head. Scared the shit out of me.
It was at the corner of Nova Road and Bellevue Ave. There's a thick grouping of forest that extends toward S Clyde Morris Blvd that had a large number of these spiders. I saw them when I would walk or bike from school to my off-campus housing room. I've always wondered if they are still breeding in that area and if they're still that large.
Please go and investigate, if you can. If so, that would be a great video.
Ty for showcasing this lil girl. She's really a very pretty spidey, one that I would never get to see otherwise.
Ooooo Zipper Spider! Even as a kid, I loved catchinv grasshoppers and other insects to stick on their webs and watch them wrap em up. Never been bitten, never even seen one TRY to bite- but it is AWESOME to watch them wrap up food.
Heck yeah, love it! Great content! Spiders are just animals like you and me and they don't deserve all the hate they get. They deserve respect like every other creature does. Without them, think of how many more flies and mosquitoes would be annoying us and biting us all the time!
Probably 1 of the coolest looking spiders ever.
This will always be my favorite spider. The garden spider was one of the best spiders you could possibly have.🥰🙏🕷️🕸️💖🌺
Their size reinforces my arachnophobia, but I still like seeing them around the yard.
Animals are amazing teachers! A dog taught me not to be afraid of them, cats taught me not to be afraid of them and have been a cat owner almost 50 years, and a spider taught me not to be afraid. Used to be scared of carpenter ants because one bit me as a child. But now I realize you leave them alone they’ll go on about their business. I don’t encounter too many live crabs so I still am a little scared of them. Never met a goat but their eyes scare me. But I’ve seen how friendly they are online so I can somewhat ignore their crazy eyes.
Thank you for doing a video on Garden Spiders. I love seeing them and their beautiful webs outside!
Agriope aurantia Are my favorite and how I got over my arachnophobia too! So much so that I now have tarantulas I love dearly! Thank you for showing their beauty, they are a gentle giant who deserve a lot of love and recognition! 💚
I was so happy to find one of these beautiful orb weavers next to my farmhouse. I have a great picture of her feasting on a locust that she'd caught as I loved visiting her every evening while watering flowers. She became a familiar 'friend' in a sense and my wife would lightly spray her web so she'd have water during the drought we had this summer in Missouri. These lovely spiders aren't as common as when I was a kid for some reason. With the first frost she's gone-but she left behind 3 egg sacs so I'm sure one of her offspring will build a web in the same spot mother did. It's fascinating to watch them build a web from scratch-they don't mind at all the pesky mammal with only two eyes gawking at them.
Great video! It’s really important to teach people that these spiders aren’t harmful in any way. Those orb weavers are so beautiful! We don’t get those too much where I am in the city, but occasionally one will set up a web somewhere near our house and I love to watch them.
Humans don’t come pre-loaded with a ton of instincts like so many other animals have, but I think fear of spiders is an instinct in humans. Humans also seem to have a built-in fear of snakes. It doesn’t appear to be something we learn, but rather something we have to unlearn. I remember being three or four years old and being fascinated with all sorts of bugs - I’d pick up beetles, caterpillars, worms, pill bugs, etc., with no fear of them - but spiders terrified me. I wouldn’t go near them. I think we can’t help being afraid of them.
When I was maybe 10-11 years old, my mother signed me up for summer classes at our local zoo and our arboretum. The class I remember the most was about invertebrates. We were taught about all the insects, arachnids, isopods, and other bugs of our area. One of the main points they stressed was that we shouldn’t be afraid of them. They aren’t trying to harm us; if they bite or sting, it’s because they feel threatened. Unless you’re a yellow jacket, and then you’re just a jerk. We were taught which bugs to steer clear of - black widows, brown recluses, centipedes, puss caterpillars (asps), and so on - but we were also shown how to safely catch and handle many other bugs. They even brought in a tarantula for us to handle one day, although only a few of us were brave enough to let him crawl on us. That class did wonders for me when it came to getting past my arachnophobia.
Fear of something is picked up through our experiences or lack of. Fear of spiders can come from your parent or parents during maturity, Or anyone close to you, Or from consuming media, Or from bad experiences.. Or even fear of the unknown that triggers it. There are many traits you can pick up genetically from your parents, But your emotional connections to things is not one of them.. This is developed.
You’re absolutely right- I only ever pick them up for demonstration purposes. They really prefer to be left alone, but if these videos help people see them as something to coexist with, then I’m doin my job!
I'm terrified of spiders. Have tried to overcome the fear over the last few years. Am only at the stage of poking a web. Thanks for giving me the confidence to keep working on it!
I always love finding these and Banded Argiope in my garden. The first spider I free handed was a Shamrock Orbweaver. Thing was a unit. Great video.
I love yellow garden spiders! They are so helpful at catching nuisance bugs like grasshoppers. Plus their colors are really pretty.
I'm so glad this video made it into my recs today. When I saw "spider will cure arachnophobia" I immediately assumed it was another jumping spider video. Boy was I in for a shock! But I'm so glad I stuck around to hear you talk about the garden spider, because it helped me see them as less frightening. Very happy to have stumbled on this video, insta subscribed.
Glad to have you! Jumping spiders are a great place to start if you're working on your fear, but these guys and wolf spiders, once I worked up the nerve to get close to them, basically put the fear to rest forever.
I love these little guys. We've had at least one take up residence on our porches every year for the past 22 years. Such a beautiful species.
I grew up in NC and we had doors to our deck that we rarely used. Each of them would always have an orb weaver. Im still scared kf spiders, but orb weavers have a special place in my heart.
I've never feared spiders, but always respected them since is was very young and was taken to a local tarantula exhibit some organization had set up. So I was facinated by them very early on, had posters and everything in my room. But I've never thought of owning one. Then I saw a video a while back of a girl with arachnophbia ordering and living with a bold jumping spider for a few weeks to hopefully help her overcome her fear. Great and fun little video. I always knew jumping spiders were special but that video really got me to appreciate it's charisma and character. I'm planning on getting myself a big jumping spider (a bold one too) one day. I just have some reading up to do first...
Great stuff! I recommend Arachnoboards blogs and forums. There’s no better resource for learning about spider care
Had at least 4 of these every year that would build a web in the windows of our kitchen growing up. I’m scared shite-less of spiders, but these were amazing to watch. I loved the zig-zag they always made in the middle.
Also, they NEVER came inside, so we were cool.
My and son I just adopted one outside our window! We love feeding it. As an arachnophobe, I approve 😊
These are one of my favorite spiders, if not my favorite. I live in South Carolina and they are everywhere. Harmless and super impressive
Between your videos and Lucas, I have gone from being deathly afraid of spiders to now studying and sometimes handling them (to relocate from the house) and they are like little puppies.
I’ve always loved these spiders ever since I was a kid. Until jumping spiders I was never a fan of arachnids except for these guys because I knew they served a key role in the garden. Now I love all spiders and will whatever I can to protect these orb weavers if I see them in the yard or garden.
Orb weavers in general have helped me get over my fear/disgust of spiders. I've happily come to understand their place in nature and how they greatly benefit us. I was very lucky to have female Castleback Orb weaver make her web by my front door and stick around for nearly 2 weeks. Beautiful and fascinating little creatures.
I've never had arachnophobia, but there were species I definitely stayed away from when I was young. I grew up in a desert, so I was more worried about scorpions and rattlesnakes. Glad you overcame your fear, but you're crazy for handling that wandering spider. Handling a wandering spider, I would estimate as being kind of like handling a death adder. Not likely to bit, but if it does, it's a real bad day.
I used to be terrified of spiders. It didn't help that I'm allergic to them so simply smashing one on my skin created a horrible reaction. But now I'm absolutely fascinated by them. My turning point was watching Lucas the spider cartoons and then watching a video about how jumping spiders can make a great pet. I have been hooked ever since. 😁
I currently have a Yellow Garden Spider outside that built a huge web on my deck and I cheer it on when I catches the hornets that have been bothering me outside. Spiders are the best pest control
Was just visiting my son in Nebraska and he took a photo of a spider in his yard. This is what kind it was. I don't like spiders because of a deep fear I have of them but this is a pretty kind of spider. Love the markings!
I have arachnophobia. The only reason why i stumbled into this video was because i saw a picture of this spider, and I was surprised that i didn't have the reaction i have with other spiders. These actually look so cool
_Argiope aurantia_ is my absolute favorite spider in the whole, wide world. I love when one of these sets up her amazing web somewhere outside my house, because I know they are harmless. I unwisely handled one as a child and was quite surprised by how much those huge fangs really didn't hurt much more than a thorn scratch or a bumblebee sting. She bit me in self-defense when I accidentally squeezed her a bit in my hand. And... if you've never seen one of these spiders doing her defensive web-bouncing maneuver, well, you're in for another surprise, when you do see it!
Here in upstate South Carolina we see them all the time in the summer and early fall months. The gold and black Garden Weaver spider is one of my favorites as well.
I used to live in my aunts basement and had a debilitating fear of bugs. There were wolf spiders in the bathroom literally every time i went in it was horrible. But, we had this one yellow garden spider which had perched its web outside our basement window. We named her Gardenia. She didnt move much, just hung out and looked pretty. Later she actually moved to the garage for a while before she, presumably, passed away. She did actually help my arachnaphobia so much. She was still, so i didnt have to worry about the skittering legs, and she was absolutely beautiful too.
Tarantulas were another one that helped because they are fluffy and chunky fellas which also have gorgeous patterns. I still have bad arachnaphobia and losthe wolf spiders, but i would love to get to a point where I can appreciate spiders without the fear.
used to love watching these guys when i was a kid, had a nice big one living next to my front porch two summers ago.
Dude, your channel and Jack's channel along with BW really helped me in this way as well.
Thanks for ALL you guys do.
Glad to do it! Jack and Coyote are awesome.
that noise you made talking about your first reaction made me laugh out loud because that's exactly how I feel 😂 I've been watching your videos even though spiders scare the living hell out of me 😭
Yep. Took me a while to get comfortable, but it was well worth it. Push past fear and the world becomes a very rich and fascinating place!
I always enjoy watching the cautious little tapity- tap movements orb weavers do with their legs when exploring a hand or unfamiliar surface. Since they have poor vision and rely on their web to be their eyes, the spindly legs remind me of blind mobility canes tapping around.
This is the video, that will get me over my fear. I'm headed out tonight to find any spider and we will become friends.
Seriously, well done, Spencer. I'd say spiders rank higher than snakes in terms of fear, even if the stats disagree.
I think you’re right! I always hear more people that say they’re afraid of spiders than snakes, but interestingly enough another commenter proposed a hypothesis he came across in his masters thesis- the reason we fear spiders and snakes is due to their unpredictable nature compared to mammals. Very interesting stuff
@@MyWildBackyard That's an interesting hypothesis. My take, which is purely anecdotal, is people's fears cause a more chaotic response when encountering a spider or snake. If someone is jittering or nervous with a tarantula, for example, the tarantula tends to react in a more hostile manner. Chicken or egg kind of thing? Or? Is it because spiders and snakes can be handled more often than mammals, which would result in more stings, pinches, and bites? It's been a minute since I've held a javelina. 😉
I have a spiny orb weaver that lives directly above my front door. I was scared even to walk underneath her and was planning to just spray her with bug spray and call it a day. One night I went to take the trash out and I opened the door and almost walked right into her. I looked directly into the spiders eyes and realized, they are just living their lives just like us.
Now I feed her a snack every few days and she keeps the mosquitoes out of my house! They are truly amazing creatures.
You do a great job with these videos! You make it hard not to watch another one
You’re braver than me bro. Even watching this is genuinely anxiety inducing for me. Just seeing the movements. I am trying so hard to cure my arachnophobia, but it’s hard.
I found one of these for the first time last year. Loved waking up daily with my little kid to go see the big yellow spider outside hahaha
Barn Orbweavers very much did the same for me. Not the first spiders I’ve handled, but definitely the ones that got me over the worst of it. And they’re very similar to these garden spiders that you guys get in the states.
I have been really trying. My spider that I'm working with is the jumping spider. For some reason they do not frighten me. Now I really enjoy most insects especially praying mantis. Thanks for the excellent videos
Orb Weavers in general are super cool. Thanks for the idea of starting with one. I can't handle jumping spiders because the sudden movements freak me out.
One of these beauties planted a gigantic web on our front door and hung there upside down in the center of it, effectively "trapping" us in the house! Terrifying scene! My friend got brave and went through the door then opened a can of Black Flag all over the spider and web. She said she felt badly about her fear taking over in such a violent way. Now we both know to just let spiders be, unless they are Wolfies--whose bite has sent me to urgent care twice. But I use peppermint oil and eucalyptus in the Windows to keep them at bay. Thanks for your videos!!